Human Nature

[Belacqua]

These researchers concluded that the will of the people has little or no effect on what government does. So if they're right, there is no democracy to lose.

One problem many voters fail to acknowledge is that the government can't solve all of our problems, no matter what politicians promise.

Also, a fair number of voters do get what they want from their representatives.  It's just that in such a divided nation as the U.S., that group most likely can never be a majority.  

In other words, our perceptions of what the government is doing for us and what is possible are likely askew.  Such a lack of comprehension may well soon be corrected as we learn the hard way what government has actually been doing for us after Trump undermines it.

Our inability to correctly track cause and effect, because we are habituated or spoiled, is yet another problem with human nature.

In my opinion, it would help if more people understood history and human psychology better.

Granted, perceptions are often skewed. 

The study I referred to gives its methodology, so it isn't simply a question of people's perceptions. You can check to see if you find the interpretation of the data persuasive. 

https://www.princeton.edu/~mgilens/idr.pdf